


Just Save One

by notyourusername



Category: Doctor Who, Once Upon A Time - Fandom, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Male-Female Friendship, Non-Canon Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-04
Updated: 2012-07-04
Packaged: 2017-11-09 04:56:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/451537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notyourusername/pseuds/notyourusername
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor stumbles upon this odd little town in Maine, where time just... stops. People continue their lives in a haze without even realizing it. As the Doctor watches from afar, he notices a girl in a diner, who could really use a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Save One

**Author's Note:**

> This spun out of a Once Upon a Time RP I'm in where David Tennant is the Mad Hatter and he's friends with Ruby and he just wants to hug her because she has all these dreams and hopes that she can never achieve.

In Maine, there’s a small town called Storybrooke. Here, nothing really seems to happen, because time never moves. Cursed by an Evil Queen, the town and its people are stuck in a paradox of time where they can never leave, never change, and nothing ever happens. That alone would have given the Doctor pause and made him want to crash the time bubble. Stumbling upon such a rare occurrence on Earth without him having been in the middle of it made him curious, more so as he watched on…

***

Day after day, Granny’s Diner was home for most of the townspeople in need of a quick bite to eat, the early rising coffee, or a plate of fried eggs. At least, that’s what Gran said if you asked her. No disrespect, but the food wasn’t all that grand. No, the real reason most people frequently visited was for one young miss who was never shy of showing her disinterest for being there, although the high heels and rouge lipstick might have confused a certain amount of the male population. Ruby knew she was the bait in which wolves feel prey to, but she didn’t care for that. She wanted more. Ruby wasn’t just a pretty face or a great pair of legs (for they were quite a pair), she dreamed of bigger and better things, more than just waitressing for the Diner, way more than just running it like Gran had planned. She wanted to see the world, do something exciting with her life. But she never got around to it; things kept getting complicated, reasons would arise for her to stay.

The Doctor watched her from his blue box, always watching how her eyes dimmed at night or how she searched for a new home, to never really find it. She needed him, needed his help. “Well, I’ve never done well with magic curses, but this Sexy old thing has seen worst, haven’t you love?” He spoke to his oldest companion, his most loyal. The TARDIS groaned as a lever flipped, turned with the spin of a wheel. The lights flickered and blew as the police box dove from space down through the Earth’s atmosphere. The Doctor gripped himself as it crashed at full might against the Queen’s barrier, preventing it from passing.

“Come now, my dear man. What kind of person comes to town without introducing themselves to the Mayor?”

He had seen her before, once or twice entering the Diner, and around town. “Ah yes, how rude of me. Perhaps if I were allowed entrance to your town I would have done so.” He’d heard about her from that young boy with the book in his hands. “Would you rather I name you miss mayor, or your Majesty?”

“Well, it looks like someone has been doing some reading.” The woman smirked as she sat down in one of the rolling chairs.

“I do try my best. Books are our greatest weapon.”

“I prefer fireballs.” The woman smiled, her fingers twisting inside of her hand.

“Your shallow threats won’t frighten me, love. I know you have no power.” That sent the smile of her face.

“My, my, aren’t we a man of many secrets?”

“Not man, Time Lord; and how did you manage to get inside my TARDIS?”

“You really don’t know how to blend in do you?” She took out a silver pair of shoes from the floor, a pair she was wearing. “These things still have some magic left in them.”

“Friend of Dorothy?” He asked.

“More like an acquaintance I’d rather forget.” She rose from her hair and strode over towards the Doctor. “Now, I won’t ask again. What do you want?”

“I want many things really: to see my home again, to be able to figure out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop, whether J.K. Rowling’s next book shall be a success. But what I would most like is for you not to hate me too much when I kick you out of my TARDIS.” While the Evil Queen had been busy flaunting her marvelous shoes, the Doctor had grabbed an item of his own: one of Jack’s old Time Vortex Manipulator’s, one of the first models, capable of sending anyone into the same time, just 10 feet of distance. He’d managed to program it to send the lovely mayor back to her town, and out of his box. He grabbed the silver slippers and latched the manipulator onto her wrist, locking it as to avoid her attempts at returning via the Star-sixty-six feature on the same.

“So long!” He waved at her as she popped out of his existence. “Now, where were we?” His victory was cut short, as the TARDIS shook him to the floor. “What now?!” He looked at the monitor, colors and levels bouncing up and down. The TARDIS was wasting a lot of power breaking the barrier, and it had only passed an edge of her body. The Doctor went around the control panel, frantic as he tried to maintain his lover afloat. This was strong dark magic, he thought, and he had none at all. That’s when he nearly tripped over them, the silver slippers. “Perhaps…” He tapped at the point and a spark flew out. 

“You don’t expect me to wear them now do you?” The insides shook again with despair from the big blue box. “All right, fine!” He grouched as he took off the red converse and put them on. It was surprising how the slippers fit him, adjusting to his feet. “Now, let’s get us through.” He tapped his feet at the base three times. “Get us on the ground, girl!”

***

Ruby continued pouring coffee into David’s cup, her mind elsewhere, when she could have sworn she heard something like a crash. Something kept telling her to ignore it, but an older, weaker voice told her to pay attention. Her mind was in a fog, normality and routine trying to keep her body in motion, while the voice in her head told her to be catious.

“Hey, Rubs, I think that’s enough.” David was touching her hand, the other holding the coffee pot before she spilled it all over him.

“Oh crap.” She cursed, hoping Granny hadn’t noticed. “Sorry, David.”

“It’s all right, no harm done.” He replied.

Ruby took off her apron against Gran’s protests and stepped outside to get some fresh air. She didn’t understand what was happening, but her head was banging… She almost didn’t notice the man in front of her until he grabbed her and stopped her from falling.

“Whoops, butterfingers. Thanks, stud…” She looked up to thank her hero: a thin man, wearing a brown coat, hair messed up to the center, wearing what she thought (if she didn’t know better) were silver converse slippers.

“I think you need a Doctor.” The man smiled, while Ruby just kept wondering where the hell did she keep her mace.

***

A groaning and whirring filled the air. The TARDIS spun so hard it was burning steam, the barrier cracking away as she plummeted through the air, crashing on the corner of Granny’s Diner’s street. Luckily, the curse had been in effect for so long, people seemed not to notice the change of scenery. He needed to be quick; he wasn’t sure how curses affected Time Lords, and honestly he wasn’t planning to stay long to find out.

It didn’t take too much walking to find Ruby outside of the Diner, looking as if she were about to collapse. The Doctor leapt down to grab her, as he noticed the look she wore: it was the same one Donna had before her mind had tried to collapse on itself. Had his invasion affected the curse so greatly? He hadn’t expected this. As he lifter her back up, he inconspicuously scanned her with his sonic screwdriver to make sure she was okay; he wasn’t going to lose her before he had the chance to rescue her.

“I think you need a Doctor.” He told her, with his childish grin as always.

“…thanks, I’ll go tell Dr. Whale that.” She steadied herself away from the man’s grip, wondering if she could outrun him in her heels.

“No, wait. I wanted to talk to you.” _Yep, definitely should start running. Then why am I turning towards him._

“Hey, who are you?” Ruby realized that he wasn’t one of her usual customers. That was the first warning sign, because most of the town was a regular customer, and she knew the others who weren’t. “You’re not from around here.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement.

“That’s correct. I’m actually quite a bit away… far, far away.” He had an English accent, his hand scratching his head as he looked around.

“Yeah, I noticed. What do you want with me?”

“I want to help.” He said with a light chuckle, as if trying to keep his true intentions known. _I wonder how fast I can stab him with my shoes…_

“Thanks, but I don’t need any help.” She knew this was a dangerous situation, yet why didn’t she sense that from him? She could feel her teeth sharpen and a growl escape her mouth. “Holy crap.” She put her hand to her mouth, memories of running through the woods in her head.

“Please, come with me. Take my hand.” He didn’t wait for her reply, taking her hand and muttering something under his breath.

“Let’s hope this works…” _Let’s hope you know what’s good for you._ He pulled her forward as he started running.

“Hey! Girl in heels doesn’t do well running!” She yelled as she tried to keep up. He appeared to be taking her to a blue box in the corner. _Funny, I never noticed that before. Oh, crap._ “Oh no! You are not taking me inside there to have your way with me.” She started kicking at his shins, her head still pounding.

“Ow! Will you just trust me for once? I sweat what is it with women and hitting me?” He snapped his fingers, the doors quickly opening. What was this man have in store for her, and more so, why was she so quick to agree? She meant to say more, but any words she had were gone the moment she followed him in. She was in awe, unable to do anything except look at what was inside. “It’s so… big.”

“Bigger on the inside. Careful now.” He pointed behind her to move on up, the doors closing, trapping her inside.

“What?! What are you doing?” Fear began to creep in, but she was still much too curious to care. “Where are you taking me?”

“Anywhere you’d like, Ruby.” He smiled at her, taking her hand. “People call me the Doctor, because I’m a healer of sorts. And you, my girl, have a pain that no medicine can cure. I always say sometimes all we need is a change of scenery, and that’s what this is for.” He gestured to everything around him. “This takes me anywhere and any time in the world. You only have to make the choice. I won’t force you, you’re free to do as you wish. But I believe you would enjoy getting away from that diner place you work in, from what I’ve seen.” His face seemed to be pleading for her, as if he needed this just as much as she did.  After some time, the wolf inside Ruby had simmered, and she spoke again.

“This… can take me anywhere in the world?”

“Yes, that’s correct.” He nodded. She thought once more, about the idea of leaving home. Where would she even go?

“Take me to see where the lemurs are.”


End file.
